Netflix's top execs all wore ugly 'Stranger Things' sweaters on the Q3 earnings call, and the stunt highlights an important new business

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings understands the value of video — and now he's using it to do some serious product placement.

Every quarter, Hastings and other company executives discuss Netflix's latest financial results in a recorded video interview with a financial analyst. During Monday's video interview to discuss the company's third-quarter earnings, the CEO and his lieutenants interrupted questions on financial metrics and the regulatory environment to don garish sweaters with blinking lights sewn in.

Although the woolly abominations might not win many style points among fashionistas, the sweaters were instantly recognizable to fans of Netflix's hit series, "Stranger Things." (The string of Christmas tree lights with letters under each bulb were an important part of the plot in the show's first season.)

The stunt was a promotion for the second season of the show, which Netflix will release on October 28. And it also hints at what could turn out to be an important new business for the company — selling merchandise, such as lunchboxes, backpacks, and action figures, that capitalizes on the popularity of its shows.

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"We're celebrating both the amazing content that's coming in ten days or so and also Target's great promotion strategy," Hastings announced on the video after his wardrobe change.

"We're learning how to do merchandising," he continued. "We've got some amazing displays and amazing materials out at Target."

Whether the next season of Stranger Things proves as popular as the first remains to be seen. But Hastings proved he's a master promoter by getting the most of his video airtime.